microscopic improvement in CAHSEE pass rate

[George Sheridan <learn@jps.net>]

Slight gain lauded in senior tests
By Laurel Rosenhall -- Bee Staff Writer
Published Wednesday, August 23, 2006
http://www.sacbee.com/content/news/education/v-print/story/14305080p-15185797c.html

The second batch of high school seniors required to pass the California 
exit exam in order to graduate is starting the school year with greater 
success on the test than last year's seniors, Superintendent Jack O'Connell 
said Tuesday.

But the improvement is microscopic.

Of the roughly 450,000 students in the class of 2007, 88 percent have 
passed the math portion of the test and 89 percent have passed the English 
section -- an increase from last year's senior class performance of just 
one percentage point in each section.

In the first of three news conferences Tuesday to announce the scores, 
state Superintendent of Public Instruction O'Connell said they "offer more 
evidence that our high school students are working hard to learn the 
essential communication and problem-solving skills that are needed for 
success at work and in life."

"At this current pace we're on track for a passing rate even greater than 
that of the class of 2006," he said.

But critics said the new figures are nothing to celebrate.

"I'm immediately struck by the disconnect between the very positive spin 
the (Department of Education) is putting on these numbers and what appear 
to be very modest changes," said UCLA education professor John Rogers.

"The fact that we don't see progress in the class of 2007 compared with the 
class of 2006 is a real problem."

Another problem: Tuesday's scores tell only part of the story, because they 
do not show how many students have passed both the math and English parts 
of the test, which is what's required for graduation.

That information will be released in October. Because students who pass one 
section might not pass both sections, the combined pass rate will likely be 
lower than the figures announced this week. Last fall, the combined pass 
rate for the students in the class of 2006 was about 10 percentage points 
lower than the pass rates on individual sections of the test.

The exit exam became a graduation requirement last year. Students first 
take the test as sophomores and, if they fail a section, repeat taking it 
throughout their junior and senior years.

By the end of the last school year, 91 percent of the class of 2006 had 
passed the test, leaving about 40,000 students without high school 
diplomas. They were disproportionately non- native English speakers or 
African American, Latino and low-income students.

Even as O'Connell touted the performance of this year's seniors, he 
acknowledged that the achievement gap between groups of students remains 
far too large.

For example, 96 percent of white students in the class of 2007 have passed 
the English part of the test, while 83 percent of Latino students in the 
class have passed that section. The gaps are even larger on the math 
section, where 97 percent of Asian American students have passed and 76 
percent of African Americans have passed.

The achievement gap is one point of agreement between O'Connell and his 
opponents, even if they don't agree on how to solve it. Arturo Gonzalez, a 
San Francisco lawyer who sued the state over the exit exam, blamed a high 
rate of under-qualified teachers in some schools for the poor performance 
among some ethnic groups.

"Every child who is being asked to pass a test in math should be provided 
with a teacher who is fully credentialed to teach math," he said.

"It's that simple. And we're not there yet. Until we solve that problem 
we're going to continue to see these gaps in achievement, because 
unfortunately the teacher shortages are most critical in the low-income 
neighborhoods and that's where people are more likely to be African 
American and Latino."

O'Connell said he hopes to close the achievement gap with an increase in 
funding for remediation programs. This year's budget includes $70 million 
to help seniors who haven't passed the test, compared with $20 million last 
year.

The money will be sent to school districts at a rate of $500 per senior who 
hasn't passed and will cover all students who haven't passed, O'Connell 
said. Last year the $20 million for remediation was not enough to cover all 
failing students, so the money went only to schools with the highest rate 
of failure -- a major argument in Gonzalez's lawsuit against the state. 
Earlier this month, the state Court of Appeal shot down Gonzalez's legal 
challenge and upheld the test as a graduation requirement. At the time, he 
said he would appeal to the state Supreme Court.

He has not appealed, but said Tuesday he is in talks with the state to 
resolve some of the allegations of inequity raised in his suit.

For those who support the test, the increased remediation funding is an 
example of how the exit exam can improve the neediest schools.

"What we hoped would come to bear from (the exit exam) has. And that is the 
lowest-performing students ? are finally getting some attention," said 
Russlynn Ali, director of Education Trust West, an Oakland group that 
advocates high academic standards for disadvantaged students.

"We have to keep the momentum."

*

About the writer: The Bee's Laurel Rosenhall can be reached at (916) 
321-1083 or lrosenhall@sacbee.com.

*

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George Sheridan